Breathless

Chapter 34: The Dream Garden - May 23 - June 5

One day in late May, Ruby whispered to Blaze, "Take me to your garden. I want you to share it with me."

He turned towards her in surprise. "My childhood garden? The one behind Mom's shop?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"I would love to." A secret smile teased his lips. "Just give me a few days. I need to arrange for someone else to cook on a Sunday afternoon, so we can steal a few hours in my garden."

That sounded blissful to her.

—

Blaze was waiting. For the red roses to bloom. As soon as the first beauty began to unfurl, he scheduled a day off from the restaurant. Not an easy task, but he had trained a couple of people to make his Sunday specialties for just such a purpose as this. He would move heaven and earth to spend a day with his beloved Ruby. Especially in his rose garden.

—

He stopped by her house around eight o'clock on Sunday morning. As she jumped into his passenger seat, she saw the picnic basket sitting in the back of his truck.

"What's that?" she queried.

He grinned. "My restaurant."

She laughed at his joke. "What are you up to, Blaze?"

He glanced sharply at her. "You didn't eat breakfast, right?"

She shook her head from side to side. "Nope. I listened to you. I did not eat breakfast."

"Good. Because there is nothing more delightful than a picnic breakfast in a rose garden in early June."

Her eyes lit up. "Ooh! Does that mean your roses are blooming, Blaze?"

"Are yours?"

She nodded her head. "I meant to tell you! The first bloom opened yesterday!" She sighed dramatically, "Oh! It smells delightful."

"Does your house still smell like a rose garden, Ruby?"

She eyed him. "You know it does. You were just in my house last night."

He grinned at her. "Just checking."

"Blaze...you always make my life smell sweet."

—

A few minutes later, they entered his mother's shop.

"Ruby!" Anne greeted her cheerfully before engulfing her in a warm embrace.

Blaze stood by simply shaking his head. "You, my love, have replaced me in my mother's affections, I think," he murmured loudly enough for them both to hear.

"Oh! You are ridiculous, son! Come give your mother a hug!" Anne responded as she released her favorite girl.

Anne turned towards her son and rebuked him. "I listened to you for eleven years as you talked about how wonderful this girl is. Now I agree, and you're quibbling with me?" But her voice was teasing him.

He grinned widely as he set the picnic basket on the floor before sliding his arms around his mother and drawing her close. "You're still my favorite woman in the world, Mom," he whispered into her ear. "It's just that now I have two favorites." His eyes met Ruby's over his mother's shoulder.

A sweet smile suffused her face.

His mother chuckled. "You're such a charmer, Blaze."

Ruby frowned and corrected her friend, "No, Anne, he is not a charmer. Blaze is the genuine article." Again, that smile lit up her face.

"You're right about that, my dear," Anne replied. "Well! Are you two off to the garden? The roses are in bloom, and the whole place smells like heaven."

"Excellent! Just what I was waiting for!" Blaze grinned as he grabbed his picnic basket off the floor and snagged Ruby's hand on his way out the door.

He tugged her towards his favorite place in all the world. Second only to Ruby's swing.

She entered the wonder of his garden for the second time. But this time she was here to linger. To enjoy the cool morning zephyr that was blowing her copper hair gently away from her face. Her wide aquamarine eyes were free to roam over the lush greenery and the bright blooms beckoning her to take a long look. And to breathe deeply of their aromatic perfume.

He drew her deep into the garden towards the resplendent red roses. His mother's beautiful blooms. The most gorgeous ones on the entire earth.

"Blaze, you're sharing your garden with me," she whispered blissfully as they found themselves immersed in a sea of crimson roses a moment later. "Did I ever tell you that before you placed a rose on my sidewalk, I dreamt of a garden nightly?"

She inhaled the peace of this pristine sanctuary. And lifted her face towards the sun. Now because of Blaze, she found its rays comforting. The serenity of his beautiful garden engulfed her with joy.

"Did you? It's because you were meant to flourish as these roses do." He smiled down at her.

"I do, Blaze. Especially when I'm with you. You've renewed my hope in the future. And made my dreams of love come true."

She inhaled deeply and found her senses filled with the sweet perfume of a hundred blossoming rose bushes.

"You were born to live in the garden, Ruby. Surrounded by this marvelous scent and basking in the gentle rays of the kind sun. If you're worth six hundred roses, then you're worth a hundred rose bushes. I give them all to you." He threw his hand out to encompass the entire garden surrounding them.

She smiled up at him. "I love you, Blaze. Thank you for coming for me. Thank you for invading my life with your roses. And your poetry. And the scent of a thousand rose blooms. It's still filling up my house with your joy."

She breathed in the perfume of those roses once more. "But most of all, thank you for reminding me of the happiness I once found gliding through the air on my swing. It's like a newborn joy in my life once again. You've returned the happiness of my childhood to me through your gifts. And your love."

She lifted her face towards his – and towards that cheerful sun – and planted a kiss on his lips as she reveled in the adoration that she could feel flowing from his heart into hers. He had shared the beauty of his garden with her. More than once. And in manifold ways.